LFTVD usefulness and limitations Flashcards
Barthes - Semiology (usefulness)
Can be applied to any sign, including language and image, to reveal connotations and ideologies
Useful for micro analysis of media language
Barthes - Semiology (limitations)
Does not explain anything specific to LFTVD as it is a general theory of signification
Less useful for macro analysis of media language elements
Does not mention anything about the ownership and control of TV
Does not mention anything about the process of mediation that leads to narratives in TV
Does not mention how audiences interpret LFTVD and give meaning in different ways to the same signs
Neale - Genre theory (usefulness)
Was originally developed to explain film genres but can also be applied to LFTVD as they similarly require an intertextual relay of pre-publicity and reviews to generate large audiences
Draws attention to the processes of difference within repetition (variation)
Draws attention to the process of hybridity
Acknowledges how genres are shared codes which establish audience expectations
Neale - Genre theory (limitations)
Underestimates the power of high production values, star actor system and exoticism in marketing LFTVD
Does not acknowledge how some LFTVD may emphasise individual difference rather than generic similarity
Strauss - Structuralism (usefulness)
Can be applied to a range of media products including LFTVD
Can be used to analyse the narratives in LFTVD by studying how they may set up an “us” vs “them” / insider vs outsider opposition which encourage the audience to pick sides
Can be used to analyse representations by establishes which side the narrative values
Strauss - Structuralism (limitations)
Does not explain anything specific to LFTVD
Does not mention anything about the ownership and control of TV
Does not mention anything about the process of mediation that leads to narratives in TV
Does not mention how audiences interpret TV and give meaning to
Todorov - Narratology (usefulness)
Can be applied to a range of media products including LFTVD
Useful in helping us to identify the key elements (equilibrium and disruption) within narratives
Useful in teasing out the underlying messages and values within a narrative
Todorov - Narratology (limitations)
Was originally developed to explain single strand narratives, therefore does not explain complex or long form serial narratives where narrative structure is often disrupted
Does not help to understand the segmentation of narratives
Does not help to analyse narrative strands that do not add anything to the narrative but instead establish characters, side stories or cliffhangers
Baudrillard - Postmodernism (usefulness)
Can be applied to a range of media products including LFTVD
Applies to LFTVD which refuse any identification of reality in a fictional world
Baudrillard - Postmodernism (limitations)
Does not explain anything specific to LFTVD
Unfalsifiable as the theory cannot be proved as true or false
Hall - Representation (usefulness)
Can be applied to a range of media products including LFTVD
Acknowledges the power of the TV industry in constructing representations
Acknowledges the power of the audience to decode representations in different ways
Hall - Representation (limitations)
Does not explain anything specific to LFTVD
Gauntlett - Identity (usefulness)
Can be applied to a range of media products including LFTVD
LFTVDs often offer diverse and contradictory representations that audiences can use to construct their identity
LFTVDs often attempt to reach and engage with an international audience by representing international places and cultures
LFTVDs may achieve cult status which adds to their value in helping audiences to construct identities
Gauntlett - Identity (limitations)
Assumes the audience are powerful and active which underestimates the power of media conglomerates and the forces of global capitalism to shape pop culture, tastes and identities
